APPLETON - Outagamie County Supervisor Dan Grady of Appleton will run as a Democrat for state Senate in District 19.

He will face candidate Lee Snodgrass in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary election. The winner will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.

The seat currently is held by Roger Roth, a Republican from Appleton, who is seeking re-election.

Grady was re-elected in April to a third term on the Outagamie County Board of Supervisors. He serves as chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

He identified the state's dark store tax loopholes as one of the key reasons for his candidacy. The loopholes allow big-box retailers like Menards or Walmart to obtain lower commercial property assessments, thereby saving them millions of dollars in property taxes.

Grady and other county and municipal leaders contend the loopholes shift the property tax burden from chain retailers to homeowners and small businesses.

"That's really going to end up costing all of us taxpayers and small businesses a fortune," Grady told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.